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Authorities in southern India have demolished two luxury lakeside apartment complexes that were built in violation of environmental rules.
Residents of the high-rises in the state of Kerala watched as their homes and investments imploded in seconds.
The Supreme Court ordered the demolition last year, after a committee found that they were built in breach of rules protecting coastal areas.
Two more skyscrapers were set to be razed on Sunday.
In total, some 343 flats – home to about 2,000 people – were expected to be destroyed over the weekend in what has been described as one of India’s largest demolition drives involving residential buildings.
The H2O Holy Faith complex, containing 90 flats, was the first to be brought down on Saturday. It took just seconds for the 19-floor building to be destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Resident Shamshudeen Karunagapally said his wife and children could not watch the buildings go down as it was “too painful for them to see their dreams shatter before their eyes”.
“We are suffering without any fault,” he told AFP news agency.
